Simulator Cockpit History
The Story of our 737 Cockpit
We love that our simulator has real airline DNA.
The metal plate on the side of the cockpit as you enter our simulator reads “ALS Irish Aircraft Leasing MSN 27306 Ltd.” - a special-purpose AerCap company created for this exact airframe. Whenever you visit JetEx, you’re sitting in a real flight deck from a hard-working Boeing 737 that spent almost two decades flying passengers around Southeast Asia and Oceania before starting its second life here as our full-motion simulator. That’s our breadcrumb trail back to the jet’s former life.
Built to Work
The cockpit you will be sitting in began life as a Boeing 737-4H6 with a manufacturer’s serial number of 27306. It was built in Renton and first flown on it's inaugural test flight on the 16th of December 1994. A few weeks later, it was purchased by Malaysia Airlines and registered as 9M-MQM and got to work on busy regional hops, which was becoming a necessity at the time.
Malaysia Airlines Years (1995–2007)
Our 737 ready for takeoff at Sepang Airport
From 1 February 1995, the newly registered 9M-MQM Boeing 737 immediately settled into a rhythm on Malaysia Airlines’ regional network.
Popular routes like Kuala Lumpur connecting to Penang, Kuching, Kota Kinabalu and short international hops like Phuket in Thailand is exactly the sort of legs the 737-400 was built to churn out reliably.
In 1998 the aircraft moved onto the leasing company’s books, a standard sale-and-leaseback to keep fleets modern without grounding aircraft.
Nothing changed for passengers: same cabin, same routes, same MAS crew walking down the jet bridge.
Through the 2000s, spotters kept catching her in classic MAS colours. By April 2007, with the introduction of the Boeing 737 Next-Generation and other newer types coming in, she completed her final services for MAS and prepared for a new chapter.
Vietnam Chapter (2007–2012)
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Mid-2007, the airframe was re-registered to VN-A191 for Pacific Airlines in Vietnam, just as the carrier was relaunching under the Jetstar Pacific brand. This meant it was painted initially in the Pacific Airlines colour, then almost immediately changed into the Jetstar Pacific livery.
Although this was a completely different airline for the jet, it had the same mission: high-frequency Ho Chi Minh City ↔ Hanoi, Da Nang, and other trunk routes that demand quick turns and dependable performance, which our 737 was built for.
Our 737 airframe helped to play a vital part in the now renowned Jetstar airline, helping to build the airline into what it is today. Hundreds of pilots sat in the cockpit, thousands of passengers in it's cabin, and it racked up countless hours flying in the skies of the Southern Hemisphere.
If you flew Jetstar Pacific in those years, there’s a fair chance you sat a few feet behind our very own cockpit door. Unfortunately, by May 2012, the airline begun shifting to Airbus A320s, so VN-A191 made its last commercial flights and wrapped up an honest second career. The video below is our aircraft recorded by an avid spotter.
Final Flights & Kemble
After nearly two decades of passenger flights, flying as long as it possibly could, our airliner reached her retirement age, and the aircraft was ferried to the UK and parked at Cotswold Airport (Kemble). A familiar end-of-life base for airliners. Photographs from late 2012 into 2013 show VN-A191 resting on the grass, awaiting to be parted-out. The engines and other major re-usable components found new homes; the main airframe was scrapped in 2013.
But not everything ended there. The forward fuselage, including the cockpit, was saved.
From Airliner to Simulator : Her Retirement
That preserved cockpit was then engineered into what you see (and fly) today: our full-motion 737. We’ve paired the original flight deck structure with modern avionics, high-fidelity visuals and a six-axis motion platform to recreate the feel of real flying. It’s the same yokes, same seats, the same muscle memory, and the same view over the glareshield... only the passengers are now your friends and family watching from behind on the jumpseats.
For us, that little leasing plate ties it all together: MSN 27306 lived a full airline life, and its flight deck now lives on with us
Ready to fly?
We offer a whole range of flight simulator experiences that everyone can enjoy, whether you're a complete flying novice or an experienced pilot looking to get familiar with the 737.